If I Stay The book I read was If I Stay by Gayle Forman Mia is a senior in high school her dad is a teacher at and her mother has an office job.She also has a brother who she absolutely adores, his name is Teddy and he is 8 years old.. One morning school was cancelled due to a snow day and her mom decides to stay home because she wanted to spend the day with them also. The family decides to visit friends first then to go to her paternal grandparents house for dinner afterwards. They leave the house and since they all absolutely love music it's a fight about what to listen to. They decide they will take turns listening to their choices. As they're driving down the road they are hit by a truck on an icy road. Mia “wakes up” and can't find her …show more content…
family, she sees their car is flipped over and her mom and dad are feet away from car. There is blood and something else on the ground, she doesn't realize what it is at first but then realizes it her father's brain. She sees her mother beside him, she looks gray and her eyes are open. Mia begins to panic and starts looking for her brother she sees a hand sticking out of the snow and rushes over. When she grabs the hand she sees a bracelet, It was the bracelet that her boyfriend gave her. Mia is confused about whether she's dead or if she is just invisible to everyone around her. When the paramedics and other emergency services arrives she overhears them talking, her mother died almost instantly and her father won't make it. She begins crying and looking for the only person she has left, her brother, she sees him being loaded into the ambulance she rushes over to get in but the doors slam and the ambulance speeds off. So Mia gets in the ambulance with herself and goes to the hospital. Her best friend and her family are all there, her best friend, kim, is upset but is trying to remain positive. Kim convinces her mother to drive to Oregon to tell Mia’s boyfriend Adam the news. Mia is roaming around with everyone still not sure if she is dead or not. Mia begins to look for her brother whom she hasn't heard anything about, she begins to search and overhears nurses saying “poor kid she's the only one that made it” she doesn't want to believe it because Teddy never got to get his license or go to a school dance or experience any of the things she did and now he's gone. Days and weeks pass and Mia remains the same. She begins to feel hopeless and feels she is going to be stuck like this forever. A month before the accident Mia's grandfather took her to audition for Juilliard she didn't want to tell her boyfriend because she thought he would be hurt that she went without him or that she was thinking about moving all the way across the country without seeing what he thought first. One day Mia is sitting in a chair as she sees Adam run out, he doesn't return for hours but when he does he has his guitar and begins to sing her a song he wrote for her. Mia hears it on the intercom and follows the song she comes to the doors to exit the hospital and is scared to go but she goes anyways and she begins to wake up. Shes awake and she has he grandparents, kim and Adam around her she feels happy to have all of them but scared because she doesn't have her mother or father to go to and Teddy is gone too. Mia goes on and attends Juilliard to become a successful musician. 1.)Describe how the protagonist deals with a major problem or disappointment? The protagonist deals with her major problem by trying to remain hopeful throughout the whole book. She wants to wake up and be able to live her life normally, but she also doesn't want to wake up because she won't have anybody to be with (218). When she finally wakes up she realizes it will all be okay and she has people and she wants to be successful for her family that can not be there to see her become a successful musician as they were at one point (231). Also she begins to see that Adam may not be so perfect after all. She did love him and always will but she sees that he somewhat took her away from her family and her friends (127). Mia also begins to see the love her grandfather has for her and although they somewhat grew apart she knew he still loved her. While she was still his “duck” he called her that when she was younger and hasn't heard him call her that since she was a little girl (176). So she knew then that she wanted to fight to wake up and be able to show them that they still had some part of their family left. 2.) Choose a Character and fully discuss a flaw of that character. How does the flaw impact the character and plot. In the book If I Stay Mia who is a 17 year old girl in high school a flaw she has is that she tends to care about everyone else too much rather than just trying to focus on herself.
She wants everybody else around her to be happy before herself. Even after she gets into the accident she immediately begins to look for her brother and parents rather than seeing if she is alright or if she is okay to be walking around and looking for other people(28). Also, she begins to look for Adam and Kim, she wants to be with them rather than sitting with her mourning family (121). Also when she tries out for Juilliard she does not want to tell Adam because she feels he will be hurt, even though it is something great for her she still doesn't want to tell him when he is her boyfriend, the guy that she is completely in love with, just because he is trying to become a musician and she does not want him to have to move or be concerned about her or where she will be (202). Lastly although Mia has times where she puts others before herself she can sometimes be selfish, her younger cousin was playing on her Gameboy and Mia was almost offended that her cousin wasn't mourning over the loss of anyone or the fact that Mia may not make it (123). All these things impact her life along with the plot by her almost forgetting about herself for awhile while Mia is trying to figure out all the other things going on around her like if her parents and brother are alive and even if Adam will ever come to the hospital or even be able to see her once he is
there. 3. Fully analyze the setting and explain how it contributed to the plot For most of the setting the story takes place in a hospital and it contributes to the plot by showing she is kinda trapped there. All throughout the story she tells other small memories that pertain to what's going on or if it reminds her of something that is important to the plot. Such as when she is talking about the surgeries that she is having done to her and she begins to tell the story about when her brother Teddy was born (82). Also she tells a memory of how her and Adam had gotten into a fight then realized later that night they loved eachother very much and didn't want to be without each other. And then she begins to talk about running down the hall to try to catch up to Kim and Mia (117). Mia also talks about the scene of the accident alot she tells about how it was a scene where you didn't want to look but you couldn't stop staring at the same time and her taking you back there almost makes you feel more connected to the characters and have more emotions towards them. Also there a lot of imagery the author uses a lot of details to show how gruesome and terrible the accident really was such as when she says “pieces of my father's brain was on the asphalt” and “her lips are blue and the whites of her eyes are completely red” this really gives you a thorough image of the scene of the accident. 4.) Explain the most dramatic scene in your book I feel the most dramatic scene from my book is when Adam comes to play music for Mia when she's in a coma to try to wake her up. He disappears for a few hours and comes back with her IPod and earphones. She says “I hear the raspy quick rushes of his lungs he is panting like he just ran a marathon” (229) this shows he is in a hurry to get to her and make an attempt as soon as he can because he is beginning to give up hope that she will make it. Also she talks about how Adam begins to sob and she has to look away because she cant bear to see him like that over her. Then she hears her favorite song and feels something, she feels “a pain rips through me for a searing instant a silent scream from my broken body. For the first time I can sense how agonizing staying will be” (233). Then she says “then i feel Adam's body not sense it but feel it” and she begins to wake up, you feel excited that she is awake and alive but you also feel bad for her because she is just a kid and lost her whole family. 5.) Were you satisfied with the conclusion of the book? I was somewhat satisfied with the end of the book only because I didn't want it to be over yet. Mia just begins to wake up and it ends. Mias “ghost” is just wishing she was able to talk to Adam or even feel him, she is giving up hope and doesn't want to be like this anymore than she really has to. It is Mia's body and Adam in her hospital room and he is sobbing over her body and puts her earphones in her ear while they're playing Yo-Yo Ma which was Mias favorite composer. Adam says to her “ I'll quit the band and go to New York. But I understand it might be too painful for you to continue that” (231). The last line of the book was Mia in her hospital bed feeling Adams touch for the first time and also hearing his voice when being able to answer him in a long time (234). It ended well but I feel there should have been more to it rather than it just ending there. I would have liked to know where her and Adam went or how her grandparents reacted or even if she remained best friends with Kim and also if she was still able to attend Juilliard to play the cello. Because there was so much more I wanted to know I got the second book to find out what happens to her and what life was like for her and her family/ loved ones after the accident. 6.) Using examples from the book explain how the book has made you change your life in some way. I don't ever want to have to deal with the loss of any of my family members and I also don't want my family to have to deal with the death of me. I am more careful when driving and try to make sure that the last conversation I have with someone is a positive one and I'm not fighting with them because this book has shown me that you don't know when it will be the last conversation you have with someone will be. In the beginning they were just having a snow day with each other and were supposed to spend the day with friends and family (9). And all of the sudden more than half of the family is gone in the blink of an eye, although it is just a book it really shows that a great day can turn into a horrible day. Also her best friend is a mess and after she goes to Juilliard she just leaves Kim and even Adam behind but they were by her side the whole time she was in a coma just sitting there “talking” to her (114,148). Also Adam risks being kicked out of the hospital because he gets one of the singers he knows to distract the nurses so he can just see her for a minute (142). 7.) State two meaningful quotes and fully explain each by stating it and who said it, context of scene, and the importance or impact “I can lose you like that if I don't lose you today. Ill let you go. If you Stay”-Adam I feel this quote has a huge meaning not only because it is the title of the book but also because he is saying to her that if it is too hard for her to stay with him when she wakes up he is okay with losing her that way but he isn't okay with losing her by her dying. Which I think shows a lot about him not only as a boyfriend but also as a person because he is saying he wants her to be okay and he wants the best for her not only with him but everywhere else even without him. Adam is saying all of this to her while they are in her hospital room he is the only one in there and is sobbing for the first time since all of it has happened. “I actually have to ask myself this. Am I dead?”- Mia I feel this is another important quote because for most of the book you aren't really sure if she is dead or even if she will wake up. She says this right as the police and paramedics arrive (19) and she doesn't really know, she finds her had and is very confused because she has her bracelet on her wrist but it is also on the ground on her hand too. But you don't really know until the end whether or not she is actually dead because she is outside of her body but you don't know if she is just a walking ghost or if she will be back inside her body at some point.
“The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak is narrated by death and begins when Liesel’s brother dies on a train with her and her mother. At her brother’s burial, she steals her first book, “The Grave Digger’s Handbook” and soon after is separated from her mother and sent to live with foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann, in Molching, where the majority of the book takes place. At school, Liesel is teased because she can’t read so Hans teaches her to read when she wakes up from her frequent nightmares about her brother’s death. Hans is a painter and an accordion player and also plays the accordion for her after her nightmares. Liesel grows very close with Hans and also becomes close friends with her neighbor Rudy Steiner who constantly asks her to
The book I choose for the book talk is “Dead and gone” written by Norah McClintock, this book talks about a murder mystery of Tricey Howard. The main character of the story is Mike, an orphan whose parents got killed in a car crash. He lives with his foster father named John Riel, who was once a police officer. During a swim meet, Mike see Mr.Henderson is staring at a girl name Emily without stopping. Then he informs Emily about what happened in the community center. However, as return Emily blackmails Mike to investigate Mr. Henderson. During the investigation, Mike finds nothing suspicious, but realize Emily is the daughter of Tricey Howard. Tricey Howard was murdered years ago, but the police still haven’t find the real killer. At the meantime,
While she might think that her plans are working, they only lead her down a path of destruction. She lands in a boarding house, when child services find her, she goes to jail, becomes pregnant by a man who she believed was rich. Also she becomes sentenced to 15 years in prison, over a street fight with a former friend she double crossed. In the end, she is still serving time and was freed by the warden to go to her mother’s funeral. To only discover that her two sisters were adopted by the man she once loved, her sister is with the man who impregnated her, and the younger sister has become just like her. She wants to warn her sister, but she realizes if she is just like her there is no use in giving her advice. She just decides that her sister must figure it out by
When Marie tries to ask the protagonist to take a walk, this action shows that she is trying to achieve Pauline’s dream by getting her outside of the house. Therefore, she could finally feel the true meaning of freedom. Nevertheless, Pauline’s mother’s response demonstrates that she wants her daughter’s safety more than anything. The mother tries to keep Pauline away from the danger, so the protagonist can at last have a healthier life. However, Agathe’s reply shows that her mother is willing to sacrifice Pauline’s dream to keep her secure. Therefore, the author uses contrasting characters to mention that safety is more valuable. Furthermore, the protagonist starts to describe Tante Marie and reveals that she always has her hair “around her shoulder” (85). When Pauline describes Marie, Pauline shows how her Tante is open-minded. In fact, Marie helps Pauline to let go of her limitations and to get a taste of her dream. Therefore, Marie always wants Pauline to go outside and play hockey or even to take a walk. These actions that Pauline’s Tante takes show how she is determinate to make Pauline’s dream come true. Thus, the author
The book that I’m reading is called 99 Days. 99 Days is written by Katie Cotugno and was published from Balzer + Bay. The book’s copy date is ⓒ2015 and the total pages are 384. The main characters in the story are Molly Barrow, Patrick, Gabe, Imogen, Tess, and Julia. Molly Barrow is introduced as a girl who is judged on everyone for cheating on her boyfriend, Patrick with his brother, Gabe. She transfers to a new school, but comes back in summer with heartbreak and joy. Patrick is Molly’s ex boyfriend who has hatred to Molly every since she got back from summer and was Molly’s first love. Gabe is Patrick’s brother and who Molly cheated with. Gabe is known as the social guy, but no one judges him for the cheating unlike Molly has to
Character analysis Annemarie is a normal young girl, ten years old, she has normal difficulties and duties like any other girl. but these difficulties aren’t normal ones, she’s faced with the difficulties of war. This war has made Annemarie into a very smart girl, she spends most of her time thinking about how to be safe at all times “Annemarie admitted to herself,snuggling there in the quiet dark, that she was glad to be an ordinary person who would never be called upon for courage.” (4.60) even though shes going through a lot she still controls it very well.
Near the beginning of the movie her brother dies from falling out of a third story window and she is forced to buy a coffin for him because her parents are unable to communicate this is largely because of the lack of accommodations that were available during the time. As the movie progresses and she faces more of lives hardships she starts to realize that she is the connection between the hearing and non-hearing worlds for her parents. For her graduation her father makes a kind jester of purchasing a hearing aid, which was one of the early models. Unfortunately her misunderstanding led to he feeling embarrassed of her parents although, it is unfair that she hid away her parents from her social life in the first place. One of the main characters that really kept her grounded was Mr. Petrakis. A kind elderly man who runs a pawnshop down the street. He also tends to be her way of venting because she doesn’t know how to tell her parents how upset she is. After her graduation she starts as a secretary where she meets her eventual husband William Anglin who repeatedly asks her out, but is unable to up until he is leaving for basic training for WWII. After they date are dating for a while ...
This book is about a teenage girl named Maddie living on the streets. She meets a homeless guy named Q and they start a family with two little boys they meet. In the first chapter Maddie is described and Q tells her where some good places to get free food are. They start talking and she moves in with him in his car. The next few chapters are about them and how they get along. One day Maddie met a woman and her kids. Maddie was babysitting the oldest kid, Dylan, and the mom never picked him back up. Right away Maddie figured out what was going on. In the book says “They weren’t coming back for him...” (page 81)They decided to take him in. Later in the book Q is playing poker to get some extra cash and ends up winning a boy that is being auctioned off. The boy, Leo, moves in with them. Through out the whole boo...
Since the last time I have journaled I have finished Magic hour by Kristin Hannah and Just Listen by Sarah Dessen. Magic Hour is about a feral child who was found in the small town of Rain Valley. It follows the police chief, Ellie, and her sister, Julia, while they try to figure out how to help this child. Julia is a psychiatrist who is working to get the girl to speak, while Ellie is trying to find whom the girl belongs to. Just Listen is about Annabel, the youngest sister of three in the Greene family. The family seems like they have a perfect life. The girls all model, Annabel is popular at school, they live in the perfect neighborhood, and they appear to everyone like the perfect family. The reader quickly discovers that this is not the
Growing up she seemed nearly perfect yet it was only a front, reserving all her emotional turmoil inside. Pressure came in the form of two main figures her mother and her boyfriend Matt Royston. Josie had to make her mother proud which was accomplished “ Many of the accomplishments that Josie’s mother was most proud of … had not been achieved because Josie wanted them so badly herself, but mostly because she was afraid of falling short of perfect.”(pg9). She felt as though popularity is the key to some form of conformity, being on top in the social hierarchy of high school would make her feel good that people liked her. Yet over time for her want of attention would become harmful to her feeling as though people would find who she really was by even creating precautions just incase it ever so happens with the book explaining her possible suicide methods “ It had taken Josie nearly six months to inconspicuously gather only fifteen pills, but she figured if she washed them down with a fifth of vodka, it would do the trick.” (pg 8-9).She felt as though that everything will crumble as if she was like Marie Antoinette with the people coming after but instead she will take matters into her own hands. Matt on the other hand was her source to her popularity, the pair
This book is about two greasers named Bryon and Mark. Mark whose parents died when he was a young age went to live with Bryon. This book is in first person, and takes place behind the eyes of Bryon. The book first starts out by introducing the other characters in the novel: Charlie, a bartender who allows Mark and Bryon to come in to his bar, but wont let them buy booze. M&M a small longhaired child who always seems to be munching on M&Ms, and he lends Bryon and Mark money all the time. After their rendezvous with M&M the boys visit their mother in the hospital, and while their Bryon meets Cathy who is M&Ms sister who just came back from medical school. After a conversation, Bryon invites Cathy to go on a date with him, and Cathy accepts. Soon Bryon talks Mark into double dating with him, then he proceeds to borrow Charlie’s car. The next night Angela, who is Bryon’s ex sends someone to attack him, and who ends up attacking Mark. Mark is sent to the hospitable, but recovers in a day or two. The story then resumes with Bryon continuing to date Cathy, and Mark seems to become more and more jealous. One night Mark, Bryon, Cathy, and M&M decide to drive up and down the Ribbon to get M&M cheered up because his dad was ridiculing him for his long hair. The Ribbon is a long stretch of road that teens hang out. While driving along M&M gets out and walks away with a group of other long haired children, but because you cant stop on the ribbon on a green light all they could do is watch him go away. For the next few days Cathy and Bryon are searching the Ribbon while Mark mysteriously brings in large sums of money to pay for his mothers hospitable bill. Bryon notices this, but never asked Mark where he is getting the money. The next day Mark says he might know where M&M is. Mark discloses a hippy hangout, and that is where Mark goes, but without Cathy. Bryon finds that M&M had been there, but was not around that day. The next day Bryon and Cathy go to the hangout and find M&M, and he was really bad.
Overall, Naomi’s rumination of the past leads her to wonder about how it has affected her as an adult. She went from a child who was unable or unwilling to vocalize her feelings to an adult who
The book I read was Eleanor & Park by: Rainbow Rowell. It takes place in Omaha Nebraska. The external conflict in this book is Eleanor's dealing with a horrifying home life, mostly due to her abusive stepdad, Richie. She starts to look forward to her bus rides with Park. Park can't stop thinking about her either. Eleanor starts reading Park's comic books over his shoulder, and from there it's an up and down hill situation. A key issue revolves around Eleanor and her stepfather, Richie. There are countless times when Eleanor notices bruising on her mother's face. Richie abuses Eleanor’s mother physically and emotionally. Richie yells at and controls Sabrina Eleanor’s mother, and Eleanor is so used to it that she can sleep through the screaming.
For the exposition of the movie, we see how Mia’s parent’s love of music has passed on to her and she has become a budding cellist with hopes of one day attending Julliard. Her life in high school and the new relationship that she starting with Adam, her soon to be boyfriend, is explained in narration by Mia. The director created a great understanding of her character and
She wants to find ways to keep herself sane and secure. She has no security if no one loves her nor has the financial stability. Lawrence then also writes, "The men might be foul-mouthed, the women in the kitchen might have bad reputations, her brothers might have illegitimate children. But so long as there was money, the girl felt herself established and brutally proud, reserved." Lawrence is portraying that all the negatives in her life brings her down, but she can have money and be satisfied and content. However, since her family has no source of income because of the deaths of her parents, she nor her brothers have no money. The negativities stricken her with despair and hopelessness which then leads to her how lonely she is because she may never find anyone that will compensate for her lack of income. She is driven by a domesticated life and maybe a spouse that can fulfill that—which is where Dr. Fergusson comes in to play. Dr. Fergusson is as well forlorn